He has no extraordinary memory, but he still manages to remember everything. Well that's because author and educational consultant Tony Buzan depends on mind maps more than his memory. The man who who was recently in India to conduct mind mapping seminars, explains the phenomenon to Big Break:



What is mind mapping and how is it helpful?
Mind Mapping is a method of getting your thoughts out of your mind and on to paper or your screen.u00a0 It is literally a map of your thoughts. Like a map of a village or city, it has a centre, and main branches/roads, radiating from that centre.

Mind Maps are helpful in any situation where clear or better thinking is helpful. Hundreds of millions of people use them worldwide and common uses include:

>>u00a0Improving memory
>>u00a0Solving problems
>>u00a0Planning (anything from a wedding to a new aeroplane!)
>>u00a0Note taking
>>u00a0Improving study skills
>>u00a0Negotiations
>>u00a0Establishing goals
>>u00a0Communication on all levels, both written and spoken.

Because of their many applications, Mind Maps have been called 'the Swiss Army Knife of the Brain'.

What made you invent the technique?
I invented Mind Maps because I needed help! My marks in University were going down, and I needed something more interesting and stimulating than my normal linear, word-based one-colour and Boring traditional notes!
Mind Maps provided me clarity, colour, coding, images, and all the things my brain needed to function more effectively.

The human brain is said to be the most underused organ of the human body, with us using only 10 percent of it. How can you change that?
Estimates of the percentage of the brain's use are based on studies in Creativity, Memory and Learning.u00a0u00a0 I am pleased to inform you that even your figure of ten per cent is optimistic! We can demonstrate, by measured difference, that in these areas we consistently use less than one per cent!u00a0u00a0 This sounds like bad news;u00a0 in fact it is extremely good news!u00a0 It means we have 99 per cent of our extraordinary capabilities still to tap. We can do this by making a hobby of our brains, and by reading, scanning the web, attending courses and making friends with people who are also interested in developing their brains.